Abstract
THE second of the volumes on Indian birds undertaken by Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker, for the “Fauna of British India “series, is a worthy successor to the first. It contains a further instalment of the Passeres from the Cinclidse (Dippers) to the Regulidse (Gold-crests, etc.), and deals with 473 forms in a remarkably thorough manner. So far as is known, the vernacular names, nidification, and habits of each form, in addition to a complete systematic description, are given, and it is hoped that further observations under the first three headings will be recorded by Indian ornithologists. A noteworthy feature, as in the fir,st volume, is the numerous coloured plates executed by the author himself, which are a credit to his artistic ability. A few eggs and nests might with advantage have been figured; a series of the former as a coloured plate would have made a fitting frontispiece, or a figure of the egg of each of the forms of which plates have been given might have been included in them. The absence of a full synonymy is again noticeable, but we learn with satisfaction that a sixth volume has been sanctioned which will contain a full synonymy of the forms dealt with in the previous volumes, and such addenda and corrigenda as are necessary.
The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma.
Edited by Sir Arthur Shipley. Birds. Vol. 2. By E. C. Stuart Baker. Second edition. (Published under the authority of the Secretary of State for India in Council.) Pp. xxiii + 561 + 8 plates. (London: Taylor and Francis, 1924.) 30s.
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DOVER, C. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Nature 114, 427 (1924). https://doi.org/10.1038/114427b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/114427b0